The fall of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, although many people have expected it, after all, there is a huge disparity in strength, but it can be done in such a short period of time, which still makes the entire Chinese Empire feel very excited, after all, this means that the new dynasty is really stable, so it has a greater sense of belonging to the Chinese Empire, and in disguise makes the power of the central government more stable.

In addition, this time, not only people in China came to congratulate them, but even some foreign envoys, such as the special envoys of Britain, France, and the United States, also congratulated the personnel of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the reunification of the Chinese Empire.

This incident also made many Chinese people who knew little about foreign countries feel proud, and they all felt that this showed that the Chinese Empire had finally gained a certain international status in the world, and it was a sign of the recognition of China by the Western powers, and it was no different from the ancient Quartet Dynasty.

However, most people do not know that this war is not actually over, in fact it has just begun, or that the destruction of the Manchus is not the ultimate goal, it is only one of the goals, and there is another strategic goal that has not been achieved, and this strategic goal is Korea.

Originally, Li Yongji wanted to let North Korea go, but according to intelligence, the current North Korean monarch is mediocre and the powerful ministers are greedy, which can be described as a weak country and resentment of the people, and it is a good time to intervene strongly.

In addition, the two Northern Expeditionary Armies had just defeated the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and their morale was like a rainbow, so they took this opportunity to invade Korea and obtain the greatest benefits.

The excuse is also ready-made, Korea is dependent on the Manchu Qing and is a vassal state of the Qing State, and the Manchu Qing is an enemy of the Chinese Empire, so the vassal state of the Qing State is naturally also an enemy of the Chinese Empire.

Although the Manchu Qing Dynasty has fallen, the remnants of Korea have not been eliminated, so theoretically speaking, China and Korea are still at war, and the two sides are still hostile countries.

In view of this, Li Yongji quickly approved Zhou Shengjun's plan to allow the Northern Expeditionary Force to continue its invasion of Korea, which was wrong. It was a campaign to liberate Korea.

Although he had already made up his mind to continue to attack Korea, Korea was weaker than the Qing court, and the terrain was complicated, so it would be a bit of a waste of money and labor to continue to send large troops over, so Li Yongji decided to adopt a policy of attacking with elite troops.

To put it simply, it is to change the name of Fengtian City to Shenyang City, and then leave 20,000 national defense troops stationed in Jinzhou City, 30,000 national defense troops stationed in Shenyang City, and 10,000 national defense troops stationed in Dandong (originally called Andong. After the fall of the Manchu Dynasty, it was renamed later), after that, most of the main forces of the First Route Army withdrew to Beijing and Tianjin to rest and recuperate, and the Second Route Army formed a volunteer army to conquer Korea on the spot and went south to attack Korea.

However, in order to obtain the maximum results, the Korean Volunteer Army will be divided into two.

Among them, the main force of 50,000 people was led by Feng Zicai himself. Starting from Dandong, cross the Yalu River and attack Pyongyang directly.

The other way is a partial division, led by Shi Dakai. The total strength of 30,000 soldiers, all of whom are professional soldiers, half of them are elite military forces and half are national defense forces. In particular, it should be pointed out that this will also include a Hidden Dragon Special Forces.

This detachment will return to Yingkou to rest and recuperate, and when the Korean army invades Korea. They would board the ship at Yingkou, and then, under the cover of the First Fleet, force their landing directly at Jemulpo (Incheon Port) to stabilize their position, and then proceed to Seoul, the capital of Korea.

As a matter of fact, according to the plan of the General Staff, he originally just wanted to go all the way south, and as for the plan to land at Inchon and then directly attack Seoul, it was a plan made by Li Yongji, the purpose of which was to hope for a quick victory and a quick end to the war, and at the same time, it was also to temper the amphibious landing combat capability of his troops.

In other words, on the surface, it was the partial division that landed in Incheon, but in fact, this is the real main force, and as for the Feng Zicai department who went south to push flat, it was more of an act of pressure, or an insurance measure.

Of course, the plan is the plan, but because the troops have just finished the war, they need a period of rest and recuperation, and it is approaching New Year's Day, so the matter of the conquest of Korea will be put aside for a while, and it is planned to wait until after New Year's Day.

As mentioned earlier, before the establishment of the Chinese Empire, New Year's Day actually referred to the first day of the first lunar month, but after the establishment of the empire, because the Western calendar and the summer calendar were used at the same time, the first day of January in the Western calendar was set as New Year's Day, and the Chinese New Year's Eve of the lunar calendar was set as the New Year.

In other words, January 1, 1862 A.D. was the first new New Year's Day after the founding of the Chinese Empire.

Because it is a new festival, in order to increase the festive atmosphere, Li Yongji specially decided that on this day, in addition to the army and special departments, the whole country will have a three-day holiday, especially on January 1, there will be a large-scale lantern parade, when the whole city of Nanjing will set off fireworks, the common people will put on costumes and lantern parades, and the emperor and empress will also appear at the Chaotianmen of the State Council in Nanjing to have fun with the people.

The time soon came to 0:00 a.m. on January 1, 1862, and as the bell of Jiming Temple rang on time, the fireworks salute that had been prepared for many days began to be set off in the night sky non-stop, and brilliant fireworks bloomed in the night sky.

"Your Majesty, it's so beautiful!" Yin Susu, whose stomach was already obviously pregnant, held his back with one hand, and pointed to the fireworks in the sky with the other, "Look at that, there are three colors, ah, and that, it's actually heart-shaped?" Ah, hurry, hurry, that one actually made up numbers in the sky! 1862,1,1,How amazing! ”

"Do you like it?" Li Yongji said with a smile.

"Of course I do." Yin Susu nodded again and again, "I've never seen such beautiful fireworks." ”

"Huh." Li Yongji smiled slightly.

Of course, these fireworks were ordered by Li Yongji from later generations, and the technical aspect is far from being comparable to the fireworks of this era, which are not only more beautiful, but also can form many specific patterns.

This kind of gorgeous fireworks naturally surprised the people of Nanjing, after all, these fireworks are not simply exploded, but can form many graphics, such beautiful fireworks, it is really unprecedented, many people look up and look stunned.

The fireworks lasted for half an hour before they ended, and many people couldn't get enough of it, but then, everyone suddenly saw that the entire Chaotianmen suddenly became golden, it turned out that Li Yongji asked people to turn on rows of searchlights, and the light of the searchlights shone on the Chaotianmen, showing a golden light, which was very good-looking.

Originally, Li Yongji was just looking good, but he didn't know that he was doing this, and many nearby people were startled, and they actually knelt down towards Chaotianmen, and then shouted loudly.

In the beginning, there were only some people. But this kind of affection will be contagious, and soon most people will begin to kneel down and bow to the gate of heaven, as for why they kneel, I'm afraid they themselves can't tell.

Looking at the lights below, especially seeing that many people actually bowed down to their own reassurance, Li Yongji shook his head and didn't say anything, just said to Yin Susu softly: "It's cold, let's go back." ”

"Don't." Yin Susu suddenly became coquettish for some reason. "Your Majesty, the concubine wants to watch it for a while."

"I'm afraid you'll freeze."

"Oh, the concubine has worn so many clothes, and there are so many braziers here, it's not cold at all."

"What, don't you want to go back to the palace?" Li Yongji blinked, "Can't stand my mother, don't you want to go back to see her old man's face so early?" ”

"No, no, no." Yin Susu hurriedly said, "Don't misunderstand. The concubine is just ......"

"Okay, don't say it, I know." Li Yongji shook his head and slowly hugged Yin Susu. "Since you like it, I'll stay with you for a while."

"Hmm." Yin Susu gently snuggled in Li Yongji's arms, looking out with a happy face, only feeling indescribable warmth.

After looking at it for a while. Li Yongji suddenly said: "Susu, otherwise you will also move here to live, Yonghua Palace." Just let it be to my mother, you will be watched so closely all day long. ”

"But the Queen Mother ...... there"

"You don't have to worry about the Queen Mother." Li Yongji said, "I've heard, there are many ways for her old man to be wrong, and my environment here is also good, if you think it's boring and you like to be quiet, you can also go to live in Xuanwu Lake Villa, what do you think?" ”

"Hey." Yin Susu sighed, "Your Majesty, I know you hate the rules set by the Queen Mother, but please also take care of her old man." You see, you run around all day, and it's rare to see you in normal times, and your father-in-law is now also out all day long, and he hardly comes home......"

"What? My dad barely comes home? Li Yongji suddenly asked.

"Why, it seems that you still don't know about your father-in-law and mother-in-law?" Yin Susu frowned slightly.

"What do I know?" Li Yongji said strangely.

That's right, after Li Yongji built Yonghua Palace, because the place was small, and he was the founding emperor, in order to influence, Li Zhengxiang and his wife lived in another garden in Suzhou City, and did not live in Yonghua Palace.

Later, the Queen Mother came to Yonghua Palace, it was because Yin Susu was sealed and pregnant, so her mother didn't suspect anything when she came over, but now when she heard it, it seemed that there was something else hidden.

"Actually......" Yin Susu opened her mouth, and finally said it, "Actually, my father-in-law has someone outside, he, he took a concubine outside......"

"Wait a minute, you said my dad took a concubine outside?" Li Yongji was surprised, "How is it possible? ”

"It's true." Yin Susu nodded, "And the most important thing is that my father-in-law's concubine has actually returned recently, and she has just given birth to a son." ”

"Son? My dad? Li Yongji's eyelids jumped, "Really? Just him? ”

"How dare the concubine lie to you?" Yin Susu sighed, "Originally, it was just a concubine, and my mother-in-law could barely bear it, but my father-in-law's concubine gave birth to a son, and now my mother-in-law couldn't help it, so she moved to Yonghua Palace and made so many rules...... In short, the Queen Mother and her old man also did it because she was lonely, you should be more considerate of her, you can't always avoid it, and then it's just a bunch of complaints. To put it bluntly, the Queen Mother and her old man also love you very much. ”

"Hmm." Li Yongji frowned, obviously still digesting the news that Yin Susu had just said.

"Look." Yin Susu said, "Now my father-in-law almost doesn't go home, you can hardly see people, the eldest brother is in the United States, and the closest people around the Queen Mother can't see anyone, only my daughter-in-law is by her side, so she takes care of her in every way, and those rules are actually to love her concubines." Therefore, you should take the time to care more about your mother-in-law. ”

"I see." Li Yongji nodded, "Also, just now you said that my father's concubine just gave birth to a son, is it true?" ”

"This ......" Yin Susu bit her lower lip, "Your Majesty, you don't want to ......"

"What are you thinking?" Seeing her gorgeous appearance changing color, Li Yongji smiled, "Don't think about it, I don't mean anything else, I just think that Dad is too much, if there is a concubine, there will be a concubine, and if there is a child, there will be a child, why hide it so much." I don't even know about it. ”

"陛xià." Yin Susu whispered, "Actually, it is not easy for my father-in-law, it is said that the little concubine is actually my father-in-law's lady, and she has been following her father-in-law for more than a year, but she has no name, and she doesn't dare to recognize it even if she has a child, so she can only give birth secretly outside, and she doesn't dare to be surnamed Li, so I'm afraid ...... I'm afraid ......"

"Afraid of what?" Li Yongji frowned.

"I'm afraid you'll know." Yin Susu lowered her head.

"Afraid of being known?" Li Yongji was stunned, "Why are you afraid of being known?" ”

"Maybe. I'm afraid that if you find out, it will be bad for that child. ”

"Just kidding, why should I be bad for a child, even if it's ......" Li Yongji suddenly paused, thought for a while, and then continued to ask, "Wait a minute, those words just now, is it really what my father meant?" Or is it your own speculation? ”

"Yes. It is the meaning of the emperor. Yin Susu nodded, "The Emperor Taishang once came to me and begged me to keep this secret, because he thinks you are young now. high weight, in case ......"

"Nerves." Li Yongji shook his head, "Even if my father takes a concubine and gives birth to a child, it's nothing." Why are you so afraid of me? You have to sneak behind my back to have a baby, and I don't even know what to say. ”

Yin Susu listened. just hugged Li Yongji tightly and said softly: "Your Majesty, who is not afraid of you in the whole world now." ”

It was this sentence that choked back the words at the corners of Li Yongji's mouth, and he suddenly felt that something seemed to be wrong.

After thinking about it carefully, Li Yongji finally slowly understood.

It's true, with his current power increasing day by day, coupled with the fact that he usually gets together with his family, he is rusty when he comes and goes, maybe his father is really thinking too much, and he is really afraid that he will not be able to tolerate that illegitimate little brother.

"No wonder." Li Yongji sighed, "No wonder on such an important day, my parents didn't rush over under the pretext of being unwell, it turned out that it wasn't that I was unwell, but I was afraid of being embarrassed to meet." ”

"Hmm." Yin Susu said softly.

"I see, I was negligent." Li Yongji said, "Forget it tonight, tomorrow...... No, not tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, we will go back to Suzhou early the day after tomorrow to meet my mother and father. ”

"Thank you!" Yin Susu suddenly smiled, as if she was very happy.

"What are you thanking for, it's me who thank you." Li Yongji smiled and touched her head.

After that, Yin Susu agreed to go back to his residence with Li Yongji to rest, and in the process, Li Yongji also understood that the reason why Yin Susu had done so many tricks before was actually to say this to himself, just to let himself see his family more and not be busy outside all day.

In other words, it's a coquettish exhortation.

Thinking about it, Yin Susu's original personality is relatively diluted and casual, although she is a little sensitive after pregnancy, she will not make the little daughter posture just now.

At first, I didn't pay attention to it, thinking that she was infected by this atmosphere of universal celebration, especially after seeing those modern fireworks, but now it seems that people want to say this to themselves at this opportunity early on, just to tell themselves that they should go home often, don't just care about national affairs, and ignore the family affairs around them.

In other words, when it comes to his current status, family affairs are also state affairs, and if he lets the current situation at home be left alone, it will not be good if something happens in the future.

At the same time, Yin Susu just said, who in the world is not afraid of you, seems to be telling himself euphemistically, he is now famous, but the means are too simple and rude, many people are afraid of themselves more than respectful, probably want to let themselves be soft?

Forget it, I don't want to, why do you want to think so much.

Li Yongji rubbed his temples and decided not to think about those cranky things anymore.

The next day, according to the plan, Li Yongji met with bigwigs from military, political, and business circles at all levels in the morning, and in the afternoon he met with envoys from Britain, France, the United States, Russia, Prussia, Italy, Austria, and other countries, and accepted the New Year's greetings from these foreign envoys, and sent his own blessings, and all of them expressed their understanding and support for China's extermination of the Manchu Qing Dynasty and the recovery of China's inherent territory in Northeast China.

In fact, to put it bluntly, that is, the European powers have begun to face up to China, a new country, and have begun to recognize China's strength and international status, plus they can't interfere in the affairs of the Manchu Dynasty, so they say something good, hoping to deepen economic and trade exchanges with China in order to gain more benefits.

Of course, some specific economic and trade treaties must be negotiated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and it is not appropriate to discuss them on this occasion. The main thing is to attract investment and promote their own treasury bonds.

In short, some key investment projects, such as investing in railway companies or mining companies in China, must first buy a certain amount of government bonds, and the more you buy, the more projects you can invest in, and the more projects you can operate.

To put it simply, it is to bundle the purchase of government bonds with investment in China, and to bundle them into sales.

As for why it was done. That's a long story.

Due to the impact of the great grain harvest, the subsidence of unrest and low taxes, the price of goods in the market of the empire has been somewhat sluggish recently, especially the sharp drop in grain prices, and many farmers are in danger of bankruptcy.

China is still a big agricultural country, more than ninety percent of the country are farmers, and most of the people are still bound by land, which is actually not conducive to the development of industry and commerce.

A sharp drop in food prices would bankrupt a large number of farmers, and it was said to be a good way to obtain free labor. The problem is that it's too radical.

After all, Li Yongji's industrial system and service system are still very weak, and they can't provide many jobs, so naturally they can't accommodate so many bankrupt farmers.

Originally, it would have been a good way to recruit these bankrupt peasants into the army. Conscripts are meant to be a conscript, but they are not feasible at the moment because the financial pressure is too great.

Shen Shiming once looked for someone to calculate, but it was only in these places directly under the jurisdiction. If grain prices are allowed to fluctuate and fall sharply, the number of bankrupt peasants will at least reach tens of millions. It is definitely a big hidden danger that so many bankrupt peasants have not been found, and if they are recruited as soldiers like the Song Dynasty, it will be a heavy burden to raise so many soldiers.

Therefore, in order to stabilize the local area, Li Yongji decided to introduce a series of measures to encourage industry and commerce, and at the same time issue more currency, pass guò small inflation measures and an appropriate amount of agricultural subsidy policies, so as to stimulate the development of the economy faster, better and more stable, so as not to cause a large number of displaced people to be displaced.

This is internal, and externally, Li Yongji has used another set of means.

To put it simply, in order to arbitrage more precious metals and resources, and at the same time to expand the market, Li Yongji decided to implement an active currency depreciation policy in terms of foreign exchange rates, that is, to let the Chinese yuan depreciate by a small amount in the form of administrative intervention, so as to stimulate the country's export industry and increase the enthusiasm of foreign businessmen to invest in China.

The Chinese Empire is now a country where exports are greater than imports, and exports are very strict, and it is rare that many products are in short supply in Europe and the United States, especially in the south of the Yangtze River, because of the early development, the atmosphere of doing business has long been getting stronger and stronger.

Chinese the current labor advantage is still very obvious, a Chinese laborer's salary is terrible cheap, even cheaper than Indians, plus there are many unique, high-tech value-added products, so made in China has begun to sweep Europe and the United States.

Unlike another time and space where Made in China is synonymous with inferior products, Made in China in this time and space represents the tall, luxurious and mysterious.

Now whether it is Chinese jewelry, Chinese porcelain, Chinese silk, or Chinese stainless steel handicrafts or Chinese medicine, it is super sought-after. Nowadays, European and American dignitaries are embarrassed to greet people if they don't have one or two original Chinese goods at home, and even in Britain and France, local knockoffs with Chinese goods have begun to run rampant.

In short, although the Chinese Empire has banned an unequal treaty with many foreign powers, and foreigners no longer enjoy all kinds of privileges in China, because the Chinese Empire has not implemented a policy of closing the country to the outside world, coupled with the political stability, low prices, and simple entry procedures, you can come to China to play and do business with a simple visa at the Chinese Immigration Administration, so China's attraction to Westerners is increasing day by day, and many people come to China to visit or do business at their own expense.

For example, in Shanghai alone, according to the records of the Exit and Entry Administration, more than 150,000 foreigners have applied for visas, and in 1861, the number of foreigners with clear entry records exceeded 460,000.

Among them, in the first half of 1861, the largest number of British people came to China, but in the second half of the year, the number of foreigners in China became the largest number of Americans, followed by the British, and followed by the French.

In addition to the increasing number of foreigners coming to China, Chinese businessmen, especially those in Jiangnan and Zhejiang, also began to rely on the national prestige of the empire and went abroad in large numbers, not only in Japan and Southeast Asia, but also in Europe and the Americas at their own expense.

In short, in this day and age. As long as foreigners come to China to do business, almost all have made a fortune, after so many years of subtle development, China has become a new gold country, is the first choice to make a fortune, attracting many foreigners to come to make gold.

In the past, most of these foreigners only came to China to do trade, and rarely invested in minerals, railways, and other industrial companies, and the jobs that trading companies could provide were very limited. Increase incentives for industrial investment.

To put it simply, it is not necessary to buy treasury bonds when investing in industries and opening factories in China, but if you only want to set up a trading company, especially for the trade of special products such as medicines, you must buy part of the treasury bonds, which is a mandatory requirement.

In the past China, foreigners would not do this. If you have something good, I'll just grab it.

But now the new China is different, not only has more exquisite and sought-after goods, but also has a powerful army. It is not something that can be bullied at will, so foreigners can only honestly abide by the rules and do business safely.

Naturally, those such as currency depreciation, additional currency issuance. There was also a new policy of bundling the number of treasury bonds with the trade quota, which had not yet been implemented, and Li Yongji intended to formally implement it in 1862. That's why when the envoys from various countries came to congratulate, they were given a notice in advance, so that they could be mentally prepared first. As for the specific treaties, it is natural that someone from the State Department will talk to them at that time.

has been busy and busy, and after being busy with national events, Li Yongji asked people to pick up his parents and parents, the reason why he took them over was not to visit Suzhou, because he didn't want his pregnant wife to be tired again.

After picking up the parents and saying a brief greeting, they began to hold a set of family meetings behind closed doors.

In this family meeting where only his relatives lived, Li Yongji recalled the past, looked forward to the future, and said a lot, but the main idea was one, that is, no matter how his identity changed, he was still their good son.

At the same time, I also hope that my parents will continue to be harmonious and beautiful, and say what they have in the open, don't hide it, and don't have any knots. It's all your own family, so what's not negotiable?

Not to mention, such heart-wrenching words really relieved a lot of feelings from parents, although there are still a little bumps between parents, but it is not as blunt as it used to be, and Li Zhengxiang also told all his own things, including the matter of illegitimate children.

In the end, under the mediation of Li Yongji and Yin Susu, Li Zhengxiang promised to come back and live with Li Wang's family, and at the same time, the woman who gave birth to a son to Li Zhengxiang also promised to give her an identity and let her live in the Li family as a concubine, and the illegitimate son was also included in the family tree as a concubine, and was no longer as nameless and scoreless as in the past.

At this moment, Li Zhengxiang was in tears, and he was almost about to kneel for Li Yongji.

In short, regardless of whether it is true or false, at least Li Yongji's cheap parents seem to be reconciled again, which also makes Li Yongji feel a lot of relief.

When he finished this qiē and returned to the bed in the study and lay down, Li Yongji sighed deeply.

It's really not easy to be an emperor, this family is a matter of the country and the world, you have to worry about everything, and you have to care about the emotional life of your parents, and you have to care about the people's livelihood and military at home, and you must always pay attention to various developments abroad.

However, although there are many things, Li Yongji also enjoys the taste of power that he has never had in the past, and the feeling of life and death and taking away a word is also unstoppable.

"I want to be free and have power, how can there be such a wishful thing in the world."

After talking to himself, Li Yongji touched and touched a piece of mutton fat jade pendant in his hand, suddenly crushed it, and then let the jade powder slip from the palm of his hand, and said while looking at these jade powders: "It's so annoying, I have to hide everything, I'm not happy at all!" That's it, why bother myself? The most important thing in being a man is to be happy, if I am not happy, no matter how powerful I am and how strong the country is, what does it have to do with me? ”

Speaking of this, Li Yongji clapped his hands and smiled: "That's right, I have a golden finger with me, what kind of mother-in-law and mother to learn." Well, after thinking about it, it feels best to lead troops to fight, and I am bored here all day long to inspect and deal with government affairs, and I am bored to death, it seems that I should leave here as soon as possible and leave for the United States as soon as possible to play. (To be continued......)